Catamenial bandage



A. T. VAN ALSTYN. `CMAMENML BANDAGE..

Reissued Mar. 30, 1920.

I APPLAICATION FII'-DA DC. .4Q 1919-.H

Gunning IUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERTT. VAN ALsTYN, or GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

CATAMENIAL BANDAGE. s

Specification of Reissued Letters Patent. Reissued' Mar, 30, 1920,

riginaiNo. 1,175,090, dated March `14, 1916, Serial No. 859,939, led September 3, 1914. Reissue. No.

14,722, dated September 9, 1919,1Seria1 No. 135,483, filed December 6, 1916. This application for reissue,4

led December-4,k 1919. `Serial No. 342,564.

Toa-,all 'who/mit may concern.' I

Be itv known that I, ALBERT T. VAN ALSTYN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Grand Rapids, in the` county of Kentand State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Catamenial Bandages, of which the followin is a specification.

y presentV invention relates to an improvement in catamenial bandages or napkins and hasl for its object among others, the provision of an economical duplexbandage, one that is sanitary, easily laundried, and readily adjustable to suit different anatomical requirements. v

Another advantage of` my device is that it contains no unsanitary pockets or crevices in which eXcreta may lodge. and thereforebe dilicult of cleansing.

Other advantages of my device areV that it is reversible and owing to its substantially duplex 'or symmetricalv vform maybe folded l for use entirely according to the caprice, comfort or physical requirements of the wearer.

Another object resides in providing a bandage whichr comprehends a-plurality of identical parts forming a unit and any one ofsaid parts-may be folded toform a relatively small butthick pad,the remainder of the article serving as an exterior wrapper for the padl and providing attaching ends.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bandage-,showing the same folded ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a view showing the bandage opened out flat.

Fig; 2a is an end elevation of the bandage as1opened out.

Fig. 3 is a view'similar to Fig. 2vshowingr one fold made in thebandage.

Fig.` Llsisa view similarto Fig. 3 showing a second fold. y

Fig. 5 is aview similarv to Fig. 4 showing a diii'erentz typefof-fold. Y

Fig.- 6`isa view similar to Fig;` 41:. Ashowing!` another fold therein.

, F ig.l 7 is 'a view 'showingY indications`- of other. methods 'of longitudinal. folding. Inmy present improvement, my duplex 'bandageA is shown as.- beingfsubstantially squareforflrectangular as :inl Fig. 2La'nd.. co mprsesafpairo fabricemembers, 1f and- .2 and folded edge 7 of the lap 6 therebyT which members are arranged together and held in operable form by a line of stitching 3 which partially traverses the transverse center of the two bandages. I

-By referring to any of the iigures, it will be noted that the bandages l and 2 are preferably longer than their width as indicated at A and B but that they are so overlapped or offset, asin Fig. 2.a that theyl present a substantially square area, as shown in Fig. 2.

, The distance F, F,that the bandages. are

offset from one another before stitchingdepends entirely upon the length of the fabric from which the bandage is made relatively to its width.

It is not necessary thatzthe sewing 3 be done near the central position but it may be located to one-side thereof as indicatedby the dot and dash line 5 in Fig; 2.-y Also, a plurality of lines of stitching might be employed but this last noted method ofaffiX- ing the bandages to one another would form unsanitary pockets between the lines of stitches and would therefore make the bandage undesirable, owing to such pocketsbeing diflicult to clean by means of theusual laundrying.

In Fig. 3, there is shown the firstr stepin folding the bandage for use, wherein the iirst lap 6 has been folded over along the edge 7, the entire length of the memberv 2 being diminished approximately one-third. The unfolded portion 8 of the.4 member 2` is then folded over until itsedges4 abut the forming substantially a three-plyy thickness of fabric approximately centrally located, longitudinally. on the member l, as indicated in Fig. 4t. This three-ply thickness, of course, applies only to the overhanging end 9 of the I foldedmember 2 inasmuch as where the said folded member 2 is attached by sewing. to the member l, the thicknessv of the. material is.Y four-ply owing to the additionof the fabric l.

K Inz Fig. 4: thereare shown .threetransverse dotted lines-af.,` t, c, whichV lines are.. for: the

purpose. of. indicating. the folding points' of the four laps.- which formthe bandage for use, as` indicated in Fig. l. First-the end9 is folded over on vthe dottedline a and then the members l and2arefolded togetheron thegseeond dotted lineJb-.andthentthe article` i .is again folded on the dotted line yc for ends Yless fabric than the middle or absorbent portion thereof.

f tomarily thereby forming an interior absorbent portion P of twelve thicknesses or plies of fabric at the middle or absorbent portion thereof and leaving onlys-a thickness of three-plies Y or laps of the material 1 at the suspending E, Fig. 1, which ends therefore have of folding wherein the member 2 is lapped so that its outer lateral edges meet at the `from this point on,

center near the point of attachmentV and further longitudinal folding forms a complete bandage like that described for Fig. 4. Y

In Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7, the middle absorb ent member 2 has been shown as being so located that when folded, the points of attachment E are approximately the same in length. In Fig. 6, however,'there is shown anothermethod of folding wherein one lap 10 is extremely short and the other lap 11 is greater, so that the edges 12 of the two folds meet at one side or the other of the point of stitching 3. Thelongitudinal fold ing of the napkin then ensues as described in connection with Fig. 4 and the bandage formed by this last noted arrangement of vfabric causes one of the ends E to be of greater length than its opposite member thereby transferring or displacing the bulk of the absorbent portion to one end or the other of the folded napkin, as desired.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a bandage folded to a point similar to that described in connection with Fig. 4, and there are indicated four longitudinal' dotted lines, e, f, I

g, L, which lines indicate the folding edges of live dierent laps thereby making the" bandage of a greater number of thicknesses of material although it would not be so wide a bandage as that made possible byA the arrangement illustrated in. Fig. 4.

A careful study of the foregoing will make it obvious that my device comprises" two members, one of which forms substantially an inner absorbent member, and the other member anouter envelop and securing means for the inner member.

is also obvious that the members forming the bandage, before folding, may be rectangular pieces of fabric stitched in a certain relative position to one another by oneor more rows of stitching and thereafter the bandage proper is formed by a plurality of longitudinal and transverse foldings.

Owing to the fact that my bandage is comprised of practically two like members either of which may be folded in the manner that member 1 is folded while the other isv folded in the mannerfof member 2,"my modification therefore'becomes a reversible contrivance, in which case either member may be used as the interiorly contained absorbent Vmember while the other forms the envelop or suspending means.v This particular feature has great utility inasmuch as many of these napkins when in use are pinned to supporting belts or like means, and this constant pinning will naturally tend to frayv out the ends E. Therefore, the reversibility of the napkin permits this abnormal wear to be distributed over both members as they are, from time to time, alternately used as an enveloping or supporting member.

It is obvious that my invention is capable of utilization in bandages of other forms than that described above, hence I desire the various figures of the drawing and the foregoing description to be understood as illustrative only and not as limitingv the scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A duplex napkin formed of a pair of symmetrically arranged pieces of fabric, partially lapped with one another and stitching through the center of the lapped portion thereof, either of said pieces adapted to form thev inner absorbent portion and the other of said'pieces formingthe envelop therefor.

2, A duplex reversible napkin formed of a pair of symmetrically arrangedv pieces of fabric, partially lapped with one another and stitching through the center of the lapped portion thereof, either of said symmetrical members being adapted, after being folded, to form the inner absorbent member or the outer envelop therefor.

A duplex napkin comprising two pieces of absorbent fabric offset from one another and being connected together intermediate of the offset portion, either of said pieces adapted to form the inner absorbent por tion and the other of said pieces forming the envelop therefor.

4. A napkin composed of a pair of like pieces of fabric, one partially lapped over ends of said enveloping piece form the attaching means by which the bandage may be secured to the garment of the wearer.

5. A bandage comprising two connected members, either of which may be folded transversely upon itself and then folded longitudinally a plurality of times thereby forming a relatively short but thick absorbent pad, said pad being folded within the other member whereby the folded bandage comprises the pad inclosed in an outer container formed of the remaining member and providing relatively thin attaching ends, said container being capable of being y unfolded to permit the entire bandage to 

